Due to increasing timber demands, large areas of secondary forests have been converted to larch plantations(LPs) in Northeast China because the secondary forests could not produce timber as much as LPs.However, there are a series of ecological problems such as lower soil fertility, reduced water-holding capacity and acidification of surface runoff water occurring in LPs because of the single-species composition of LPs.Therefore, a guidance on how to transform LPs into larch-broadleaf mixed forests(LBMFs) at a large spatial scale is needed for local foresters.First, Landsat time series data set and SPOT-5 images were combined to map the spatial–temporal distribution of LPs in Northeast China.Then, the topographical characteristics of LPs in 2010 s were determined.Furthermore, three sub-regions of LPs were divided closely linking to their ecosystem services and forest management aims.Finally, detailed information on how to transform the LPs into LBMFs was given according to the three subregions.The results showed that the area of LPs increased during 1980 s and 2010 s, and reached 2.61 million ha in2010 s.Of which, 0.72 million ha(27.6%) and 1.89 million ha(72.4%) LPs distributed in slopes less than 5° and greater than 5°, respectively.Of the LPs(72.4%) in slopes greater than 5°, 48.7 and 23.7% located in downslope(LPs locating at the down slope of adjacent secondary forests in the same aspect) and upslope(LPs locating at the up slope of adjacent secondary forests in the same aspect), respectively; 0.10 million ha(3.8%) located in slopes greater than 25°.The LPs were divided into Sub-Regions-Ⅰ, Ⅱ, Ⅲ according to slopes.For Sub-region-I(top role is to produce timber), self-fertilizing shrub species can be introduced after clean cutting for young-aged LPs, and release thinning can be applied for middle-aged LPs, fast growth thinning for near-matured LPs, and clear cutting for matured LPs.For Sub-Region-Ⅱ(the priority is to provide water conservation combined with timber production), the LPs should be in
